Each year, on Parshas Chayei Sarah, thousands of Jews descend on
Chevron for Shabbos. And that is because
this week we read that Avraham purchases the very first plot of land he and his
children would ever own in Eretz Yisrael, Maaras HaMachpela, which is found in
the city of Chevron. This becomes the burial ground for Avraham & Sarah,
Yitzchak & Rivka, and Yaakov & Leah, and a place to which Am Yisrael
remains connected to this very day.
And, in fact, there is much to be found in Chazal about the
powerful nature of the city of Chevron and the Cave of Machpela:
1)
The
Yalkut Reuveni writes that Maaras HaMachpela is
the entrance to Gan Eden, and that all souls pass through there on their way to
Shamayim.
2)
The Sefer Megale Amukos writes that
all tefillos/prayers pass through Maaras HaMachpela on their way to Shamayim as
well.
3)
The Zohar writes that the word “MACHPELA”
which really means ‘double’ or ‘folded’ refers to the idea that Yerushalayim is
actually connected to, or even folded under Chevron. They are connected one to the other.
But if this is all true, that Chevron is such a special place for
tefillah, then I want to ask two questions:
1) We know that the halacha is that when a Jew davens we face
Yerushalayim, NOT Chevron!? Why?
2) What is the purpose of having these TWO special cities?
Rav Moshe Wolfson, was the founder and longtime rav of Beis Midrash
Emunas Yisrael, and mashgiach of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath for over 60 years. He passed away
this past June. He wrote a sefer called Emunas Itecha, in that sefer he
address these questions, and he answers with a beautiful idea. He writes that
Yerushalayim & Chevron are MACHPELA, they are twins of each other, but
actually they are OPPOSITES and COMPLIMENT EACH OTHER perfectly.
Yerushalayim, of course, is the place that Hashem chose to the site
of His greatest revelation in the world.
The Mishna tells us that there were 10 different miracles that took
place in the Beis HaMikdash every day. And yes, the kedusha of the Makom HaMikdash,
the MOUNTAIN OF MORIAH, comes from the fact that the Avos each davened and
performed mitzvos for Hashem in that place.
Avraham & Yitzchak performed the Akeida at that spot, and Yaakov
Avinu davens there as he is running away from Esav. And, therefore, it becomes the place to which
every Jew would go three times a year, and really ANYTIME, to experience the
REVEALED presence of HKBH, and to come back revitalized and inspired.
Maaras HaMachpela is the EXACT OPPOSITE. It is not a high, exalted mountain, where the
Presence of Hashem is felt EXTERNALLY and in a REVEALED WAY. Rather, it is the place where Avraham,
Yitzchak, and Yaakov, and their wives, are buried, deep under the ground. There is no grandeur of a Beis HaMikdash at
that spot. It is a simple cave, and it
represents our legacy, the Avos NOT in their moments of heroism out in the open
during their lives, connected to the physicality of the world. But rather, as spiritual role models for us
forever, even when they are no longer physically present, and at times when we
have nothing physical to connect to.
And this is because that which is REVEALED, although it has
incredible power to inspire and connect, it can also be DESTROYED. The Beis HaMikdash was an incredibly POWERFUL
place, but it is precisely for that reason that our enemies were drawn to it
and destroyed it, TWICE. The Maaras HaMachpela, which represents the hidden,
uncovered aspect of our Yiddishkeit, can NEVER be destroyed. And because of that, it represents the
elements of our Yiddishkeit that aren’t really connected to ANY PLACE.
And this, says Rav Wolfson, is why it is called CHEVRON, from the
language of CHIBUR, connection. Because
it is SPECIFICALLY CHEVRON, the place that reminds us that no matter where we
are we can be connected to HKBH.Bec ause even as Nevuchadnezar
and Titus would destroy the Beis HaMikdash in Yerushalayim, CHEVRON, the Maaras
HaMachpela, deep under the ground, COULD NEVER BE DESTROYED. It is the place that reminds us that even if
the PLACE where the Avos connected most to HKBH is destroyed, our connection to
the AVOS remains forever, and our connection to Hashem is forever.
In fact, explains Rav Wolfson, this is why Chazal tells us that
when the Meraglim, the spies entered Eretz Yisrael, and from the beginning they
planned to speak Lashon Hara about the land, when Yehoshua wanted to strengthen
himself, not to join them, he went to daven.
And where did he go? Not to
Yerushalayim, he went to Chevron! Why
Chevron?
Because the actions of the meraglim would lead the people to cry
and reject Eretz Yisrael, the crying of Tisha B’Av, the PRECURSOR to the
CHURBAN BEIS HAMIKDASH. So, even in
those moments as they spied out the land, the idea of the Beis HaMikdash was
BEING DESTROYED, so Yehoshua went to the place that a Jew goes to remind him or
herself that even WITHOUT a Beis HaMikdash, even WITHOUT that REVEALED
connection to Hashem, a Jew is ALWAYS CONNECTED. He went to the place of CONNECTION, to
CHEVRON.
And this is also what Chazal mean when they say that Yerushalayim
& Chevron are MACHPELA, doubled-up and CONNECTED. Because even if Yerushalayim is B’CHURBANA,
the connection with HKBH is NEVER B’CHURBAN, there is ALWAYS the CHIBUR, the
CONNECTION of CHEVRON.
And with this we can answer our original question:
–
Why
do Jews face Yerushalayim and NOT Chevron?
Because, of course, the place of our most potent Tefillah is, of
course, THAT PLACE where the Avos themselves davened to Hashem. But Chevron
reminds us that if we can’t find that PLACE, if that place is unavailable to
us, wherever we are we REMAIN CONNECTED to HKBH.
We all find ourselves at different times in our lives more
connected to the Yerushalayim of our Yiddishkeit, the REVEALED, outward
expressions of Yiddishkeit. And
sometimes we are less connected to that part of ourselves. But Chevron reminds us that even if we feel
far from the Beis HaMikdash as a NATION or as an individual, deep underground,
in the recesses of our Neshama, we are ALWAYS CONNECTED.